Culture Night is one of our favourite events of the year, and with over 750 people visiting Blackrock Castle Observatory last Friday for #CultureNight2017, it was certainly one of the busiest we've seen!
The night kicked off at 6pm with Colm Ryan of Cork Skeptics presenting his brilliant talk about skepticism and how you can employ a skeptical approach to help you sniff out incorrect or suspect claims of things. Vistors to the Observatory were warned that if things seem to good to be true - they probably are!
It was then time for the ‘Voice of Space’ himself, Leo Enright to look back on 13 years of discovery from data returned from NASA's Cassini Mission to Saturn. Enright delighted in sharing images taken by Cassini of the ringed planet, explaining the music contained within Saturn's rings and told to children in the audience that it was up to them to send more spacecraft, if not humans back to Saturn to discover the rest of its mysteries and beauties!
We had been crossing our fingers all week that skies would be clear to allow for some stargazing, so it was an extra special treat for Culture Night when we were greeted with crystal clear skies from the moment it got dark, right up until close at 11 o'clock.
Our friends at Cork Astronomy Club were on hand to show visitors a gorgeous crescent Moon for a brief period before it set beneath the horizon. With that, all telescopes on site focused on Saturn and the view certainly did not disappoint!
Most of our Culture Night stargazers had never seen Saturn through a telescope before, so it was fantastic to see the look of awe on their faces and hear the excitement in their voice after getting a glimpse of the planet - the second-largest in our solar system and lying a mere 1.2 billion kilometers away from the Earth!
We even turned off the floodlights illuminating the castle to ensure we got the best view possible!
If you couldn't make it down to BCO for Culture Night, our next open night is just around the corner!
To kick off Space Week 2018, we'll have another open night on the evening of October 6 and, weather permitting, some more stargazing in the courtyard!
Thanks to all those who made the trip down to Blackrock Castle Observatory to celebrate #CultureNightCork.
We're looking forward to next year already!
Cork Arts

We're having a blast at Blackrock Castle Observatory tonight for #corkculturenight2017!
Open until 11pm, we've got Leo Enright talking about NASA's Cassini Mission to Saturn, planet workshops, and skies are looking clear which means we get to take out the telescopes with Cork Astronomy Club!!
Be sure to come along! Entry is free and all are welcome!
#LOVEculture #EUCreativeCities